dSLR cameras and biking?

[brianrossy]

Gday all,

After spending several months on the road with my lovely point and shoot, the unprotected lens is slowly getting more scratched and photo quality is declining. A combination of that and the 2012 HUBB calendar pics (you should vote here Horizons Unlimited 2012 Photo Contest Poll) and being in Canada surrounded by beauty to photograph, I'm opting to buy a dSLR camera.

Can anyone recommend a model that is suitable for the road? And any equipment that seems necessary or brilliant for motorbike travelling? How do people carry their dSLR's and lenses on their bikes? Any problems with damage from vibration etc? What are your lens choices for travel photography?

I'm currently investigating the Nikon D3100/D5100/D90 cameras, all seeming nice. Looking forward to hearing your opinions and hopefully we can turn this into a valuable thread for others in the future!!

Cheers,
Rossy.

[henryuk]

I'm looking myself so no model advuice but keen to hear from others!

One thing I learnt from climbing trips is to protect your lens always have a filter on - even if it's a clear filter. I have smashed the filter but saved the lens on more than one occasion.

Colebatch uses a polarising filter to great effect, superb photos but have no idea what it does or how it works.

[geoffshing]

Like you I started with a 35mm 'point and shoot' I now have a DSLR Canon EOS550d and find it great. An upgrade from the 500d previousley owned.

I keep the 35mm in my pocket for the 'super quick' shots or when I'm cold and wet. I keep the DSLR either my tankbag or top box (in s**t weather!)
I take a 18-55mm (close/friends), 75-300mm (distance/public/wildlife) and a wide angle lens (scenery) and have good fun with it. I also have a double battery compartment fitted for those days when no charge is available, a small light portable tripod, a hot-shoe flash, a remote actuator, and filters to protect the main lens, which also remove UV, etc.

I find carrying the gear in the tank bag hasn't been a problem with the vibrations, also carrying plenty of SD memory cards is better than just one card.

p.s, camera shops often have 2nd hand, good lens filters for sale at less than 1/2 price!!

Grant Johnson (HU Boss) gave a presentation about photography back in Spain 2008 and that was what made me decide to convert to DSLR as I couldn't get enough variation out of my 35mm and wanted to experiment more. With the reasonable prices and never ending pictures to take and retake and retake etc with digital, It was a no brainer for me.

My advice is to start small and cheap, an all inclusive package of a couple of lenses, camera and a bag and pretty soon you'll be figuring out what's good for you and maybe move onto something bigger/better/faster. I find that lenses make the camera and my girlfriend loves it when I get something ew as she gets the old one...LOL!

[jkrijt]

My experience with Nikon DSLR camera's is good.
For several trips I carried a Nikon D70s. With my last trip I used my wifes D5000 to try it out and, for my work as a reporter for a newssite, I used a Nikon D300s daily. Most of the time I go everywhere on my bike.
The last few years a BMW F650GS and now an old GoldWing and I always have the camera in the topcase.

I never had a camera failure while on the road.
My son carried his D50 in the topcase of his moped with no problem.

In general, the profesional or semi profesional camera's like the D300s are stronger then the consumer market camera's because they are intended to be used everywhere, every day in every weather.

If you don't need to shoot video, a second hand D200 or D300 could be a good option.

For my motorcycle trips, I use a Nikkor 18-200 zoom objective and a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 fixed focus objective and a SB600 flash. I always have spare batteries and memory cards with me.

I must say that I hardly ever go off-road with camera's in my topcase but I had my share of bad roads.

Good luck with choosing a camera.

[brianrossy]

Cheers gents, that's great advice! Thanks for the breakdown on what the lens mm refer to, as I'm not at understanding that yet. I was thinking the same though for lenses, a standard, a zoom and a wide angle. A macro was also a possibility as, being a zoologist, things under bark, logs and rocks excite me!

As for storage, my biggest issue is, I run with ALL soft luggage. Soft pannier bags, and a rolltop duffel bag. My tankbag is a tiny little Wolfman enduro so has no storage space for an SLR. I would have to upgrade my stock 13L tank to get a bigger tankbag I'd say.

Where do you guys keep your lenses as well? With the camera? Do they fit in your tank bag? Which tank bag?

Keep up the good work, the more opinions, the merrier! Cheers!

[geoffshing]

I tried a macro once and a guy said to me, why no use your telephoto zoom lens instead.... stand back and let your subject matter (bugs/lizards/etc) just get on with whatever it's doing without your huge lump of a body scaring the bejeesus out of it and all it wants to do is run away!

Funny that as it works for the cute chicks across the road too. LOL!

I use a standard tankbag designed for the Tenere I'm riding (www.offtheroad.de) . When I'm not using that I use a small rucksac fastened to the tank which comes off easily when I'm pottering about the town. My camera bag opens up fully with lenses etc so it fits into both rucsac and tankbag no bother!

If your going for soft luggage I'd still recommend a hard topbox!! Somewhere you can lock stuff in and not get crushed if you take a fall!

[colebatch]

Originally Posted by henryuk

Colebatch uses a polarising filter to great effect, superb photos but have no idea what it does or how it works.

I do tend to use a polariser at times (probably under use it) and a graduated ND filter at other times (definitely over use it).

I am a bit of a lazy mans photographer. I compromise a lot on lens quality and set up of shots, because at the end of the day I prefer being on the bike and on the move, and travelling as light as possible. So the way I shoot travel images is just me trying to get the most impact and interest, with the least amount of effort and relatively cheap gear.

As you are now a Jupiters Traveller, and I am now one of the Committee of Advisors, I am happy to have a with you Henry and have a chat about tips to get more impact from your photography as simply as possible, without going over the top.

[rossi]

There are a number of cameras available now which aim to bridge the gap between compacts and DSLRs. Mainly using the M4/3 format, they have the aps-c size sensor, similar to many DSLRs, and interchangeable lenses. The bodies are much smaller although they do lack the optial viewfinder. Worth looking into. Search for Olympus pen but there are other makes. If I was spending cash now I would investigate this type. I like my Sigma dp1s though, despite its limitations (fixed 28mm eqiv lens, not great for low light and slow time between shots). The prime lens, while a limitation, contributes to very high quality images.

[pecha72]

I carry a Canon 5D, 1-3 lenses, flash, and a pocket digital as a backup.

Definitely a pain to have so much fragile & expensive stuff with you on a trip, and they take up space, and weight quite a bit, too. But image quality on that full-frame sensor makes it worthwile (for me). I know I´d get at least 90% of that from a much lighter and cheaper camera.

[photographicsafaris]

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...s-camera-45572

Took panasonic 3 years but the GX1 is the GF1 upgrade.

After much deliberation I am now down to four lenses:
14mm f2.5 (equivalent 28mm) - Panasonic
20mm f1.7 (equivalent 40mm) - Panasonic
9-18 zoom f4-5.6 (equivalent 18mm -36mm) relatively slow aperture - Olympus
45mm f1.8 (equivalent 90mm) - Olympus


45mm not shown and thats a 14-42 zoom not the 9-18, but theyre similar sized.
The tripod is awesome replaced with a tech-trek ball head for travel.

There are also 2 long zooms that would be really useful: 45-200 zoom (equivalent 90-400mm) if you need to keep it compact, Or (the bigger higher quality 100-300) depending on what you are likely to be photographing

The 14mm is duplicated but for its size and weight - 53gms I simply cant leave this f2.5 prime behind.
total weight including; polarising filter, external flash (with off camera radio slave), 2 batteries, lens hood and intervalometer - 2.2kgs.

To put this into perspective thats the same weight as my Nikon fm2 with 35mm f2 lens film and hood.

It is incomparably small and it will all easily fit into your tankbag. The key benefit of the micro fourthirds system aside from smaller bodies are the much smaller lenses, whereas Canon and Nikon have still got to have larger lenses, this holds true with the Sony Alpha range, where the lens selection is not as advanced not anywhere near as compact.

Whats more there is a higher quality range - a 12mm f2 Olympus a 25mm f1.4 Panasonic a 45mm f1.8 Leica/panasonic as well as the 7-14 f4 Panasonic All for those with deeper pockets

Four Thirds | Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Chart(Lenses) - lens range here.

I do have a Canon 5d with 5 L lenses to choose from but when it comes to travel - the Panasonic is the way forward, it is a little bit of a compromise, but is just so so much more convenient that I use it far more.

I initially got the Panasonic for a walking / hiking outfit, but its grown - its just kind of addictive.
However given any specific assignment or photographic task I will undoubtably take the Canon gear.

Good luck.

regards G

[harrenz]

One option really worth looking at are the new micro 4/3 cameras from Olympus and Panasonic. The Olympus PEN EP-3 is getting great reviews. The micro 4/ have interchangable lenses and from the review excellent quality - at least comparable to consumer DSLR, but much smaller and lighter.
I could not give a view on durability, but if size and weight is an issue then these are really worth a look at.

[Glenboy]

I have a Nikon D80 with a 18-135 lens (UV filter which stays on), SB600 flash, remote shutter release, small portable tripod and a regular tripod. Everything except the reg tripod goes into a well-padded camera bag and this is carried in my topbox. When I get off the bike to do a little walk-about, the helmet and gloves go in the topbox and the camera bag goes over my shoulder. Works well for me.

I also have a waterproof Fuji compact (quality only mediocre) that I keep in a jacket pocket and can be pulled out easily for a quick shot.

I have a Ram-ball on the handlebars and often use this instead of getting out the tripod or if I don't have it with me, works very well.

[lbendel]

Well said Colebatch. I'll chip in with my own experience, now almost at the end of my 18-months tour of Africa and middle-east on an F800GS.

The most important thing to remember is to take the camera that you will enjoy using when time comes to take a picture: if it's too big, too slow or stowed away, you just won't bother take the picture. A picture not taken is always worse than the one taken by the crappiest camera in the world!

I enjoy very much photography, so I took my best toy - the Canon 5d MKII. But it's BIG and heavy, which goes against the rule when you're traveling by bike. I put in in the hard panniers to protect it, and I take it out only when I decide to stop for a while and do some photography.

So I needed a second camera: a simple point-and-shoot in those cases when I need to take a quick snapshot and the quality is less important than the fact that I'll get the shot that I want. So it needed to be:
- small, to fit in my jacket's pocket, when I'm riding, and in my trouser's pocket, when I'm strolling in town
- robust, because it will be exposed to dust, sand, humidity, shocks, etc..
- responsive! I want to be able to stop, put in neutral, reach for the camera, compose, shoot and stow it away, all in 5 seconds or less.
- lastly, have decent image quality. For me this is less important than the first 3 criteria, but the Sony is producing very nice pictures. If a scene is really worth it, then I park, take off my helmet and gloves, take the 5dMKII out and shoot. But this takes 10x more time. Often the scene will be gone, or the people scared off, etc..

When I left, the only camera that fulfilled my conditions was the Sony TX5. It's waterproof (so dust-proof), has few moving parts so it's robust. Most importantly, I can hold it with one hand, power it up by lowering the cover with my middle finger, and it will be ready to shoot in 1 second. I can compose with the helmet and goggles on, and it will autofocus in a split second. Then, immediately after taking the picture, I just slide down the cover and put it back in my jacket, and off I go.

It's (almost) perfect!

The only fly in the ointment is the LCD screen which is not protected, so after rubbing against the fabric of my pockets, it lost the anti-reflective coating and then it was just impossible to see anything in bright sunlight.

And then I lost it.. so my girl-friend who joined me left me her camera, who was also a Sony point-and-shoot, but a more traditional one, the WX7. It's terrible: you have to reach for a tiny button to power it up, which is impossible with the gloves on. Then it needs to extend the lens, which takes at least 2 seconds. And even worse, after you've taken the shot, you have to wait for the lens to retract before putting it back into the pocket, of course, and this is incredibly annoying (just as annoying as using a smartphone, don't get me started on those..).

Finally, after just a couple months, it just broke down, the lens extraction mechanism would make a grinding noise and wouldn't retract: sand and dust obviously jammed the mechanism. How good is your 1-year warranty in the middle of Africa ?

These gadgets are designed as cheaply as possible and they will break down. On the other hand, the 5D mkII feels solid and indeed it is very well built: after 1 year and multiple crashes, it still was working like clockwork, even with many moving parts (mirror, shutter, diaphragm, IS, etc..). If I had taken a Rebel or other entry-level dSRL, I'm convinced it would have broken down half-way through. And no chance to fix it.

Actually, I flew back shortly to Europe after 1 year. I sent the 5D mkII, which was still working perfectly, to Canon for CLA (clean - lube - adjust). It cost me as much as a new entry-level camera but it came back like new! it may sound crazy to take a 3000$ photo kit in an off-road bike trip, but knowing that you can rely on it, and that it can be serviced and fixed is invaluable.

Lastly, one practical problem with the DSLR is that it is a bit too "flashy". People in the street (much more so in African than in Asia it seems) are more easily scared/angered by the big photo camera pointed at them than by a tiny point and shoot. Especially so if you can get it out of your pocket and take a shot in 2 seconds before they can react (pose, ask for money, walk away, etc..)

At the end of the day, there are photos that I've taken with the small kit that I wished I had taken with the DSLR for the extra image quality; but I just know that I wouldn't have been able to take it at all with it, so I have absolutely no regret.

For me the combination of a high-end kit and a small cheap one was better than the compromise of a single medium quality kit. For most people it makes sense to take only a small point and shoot, and I respect this very much. Also, the industry has made some great progress since I left, so I may review my decision in a future trip (e.g., Sony NEX-7, Fuji X-100).

Lastly, whatever your gear, do post the photos and share them with us!

Laurent

[Oo-SEB-oO]

AAAAAHHHH.... Camera's and motorcycles... always a big discussion...

I can follow Laurent for a big part, but I don't totally agree.
I am also a (semi)professional photographer, get assignments every few weeks and I almost always go traveling with my bike(s).

BEFORE you decide what to BUY, you should consider this: Are you going on a trip to enjoy yourself and take a picture, or are you on a quest for the best possible pictures that you can take?
How much room and money are you willing to give up for your pictures?

If you buy a dslr, you need to buy a good one and a good lens, don't buy the entry level ones, there's absolutely no point in doing that! My G12 shoots better than the cheap dslr's! So, we are talking 200€ (point and shoot) - vs 500€ (G12) vs 2000+€ (dslr). How much is your picture really worth? What are the advantages of all of them???

When I go on a trip, my techstuff is almost half of everything we have with us... and every new trip I try to downsize this again! Ok, we are always going offroad so that's a really big issue, size and weight.

So, you can choose between a (high-end) dslr or a point and shoot or the thing in between. Until last year I took my dslr + 2 lenses with me. Until last year all the other options were 'crap' if you want a good quality picture... but now I've bought myself the Canon G12 and I leave the dslr at home for my concertphotography.

Honestly, with a cam like that you can take ok pictures (for web and prints up to A4 really no problem!) and you can make movies. Allright, your options are limited, but so is the price and the size of the cam. When does it get tricky? When do I have the feeling "shit - If I just brought my dslr with me..."? At night, and with fast movement pictures. That's it. How many times are you going to take pictures at night?

I can give you a lot of examples why to buy this or that but this is my conclusion:

I built a Pelicase on the back of my DRZ400 with one purpose: placing the dslr in it. I used to bring my dslr with lenses with me.
I don't anymore.
I take my Canon Powershot G12 and a (waterproof!) Contour HD helmetcam and that's it.
The Pelicase serves now for the macbook air, and all electronic stuff (waterproof!) > 1 ortlieb bag less to take with me!
I have mounts on different places on the bikes for both of the cams and the G12 is usually in my (small) tankbag.
I take the G12 out, switch it on, take a picture/film, put it away, all the way without having to stop riding!!! So for the lazy people (/good drivers), go for this option! I never regretted to take the G12 with me on my motorcycle adventures and leaving the dslr at home for all the other photography!

Seb

PS; if you have more questions, or want a better advice, you can always mail/pm me, I will be happy to help you out. I'm tired of people thinking they should buy expensive camera's to in the end just take "point and shoot" pictures on auto mode with a dslr.......... !!!!!

[The Cameraman]

Hi Seb,

the G12 makes a cracking camera and if your requirements are to simply record the trip then it makes really good sense.

My old trusty G2 (which finally died late on last year - after just passing it's tenth birthday) provided many published images, so that's proof that you don't need a DSLR to get paid for the results.

The problem I have is that when touring by bike I also like to include my other passion of aviation, and that's were the DSLR comes into it's own.

Regards

Reggie